PLAY BY PLAY: Patrick Pacheco's inside look at the world of theater, and the crazy people who inhabit it

Play by Play Video: The Fall Score

After being slammed by Hurricane Sandy and a Nor’easter, the New York theater season is desperately trying to regain some traction. The hot-ticket shows, like “Book of Mormon,” the perennials, like “The Lion King,” and the shows with box-office draws, like Al Pacino in “Glengarry Glen Ross,” can afford the inevitable box-office dips. But most other shows are just holding on until the holiday season can help them recoup their losses. A slew of Broadway plays have either recently opened or are about to open in order to take advantage of that potential commercial boost, including “The Heiress” with Jessica Chastain, “The Performers” with Henry Winkler, “Scandalous,” featuring a libretto by Kathie Lee Gifford, and a high-profile revival of “Annie.” Curiously, the opening of the revival of “Glengarry Glen Ross,” starring Pacino, was postponed until early December with the producers blaming the double-whammy of Sandy and the snowstorm. But tongues were wagging that it was the star himself who demanded the delay so he could bring his performance as a washed-up real estate salesman up to par. Why open when you’ve got people already lined up to pay premium prices to see a legendary star? This is discussed, along with the fortunes of other Broadway plays in The Fall Score, our second installment of Play by Play Video.